Gems Notes and Extracts Augusto Castellani, Mrs. John Brogden 1871

108 GEMS.XXXVI.HEMATITE.THE hematite, or blood stone, thus called from theGreek at/xa, Wood, to indicate its tint,is a substancewhich ought not to be placed amongst gems. It is a.sesquioxide of iron, as perfect as the oxide of copperwhich the malachite yields.It is used for making those tools called burnishers,so necessary to goldsmiths, to setters of gems, gildersand polishers of precious stones.We bringit to notice here, merely to remark thatthis mineral was the substance used inmaking thosevery ancient cylindrical seals, engraved all round,which were for the most part found in the ruins ofBabylon and Nineveh, and known by the name ofAssyrian cylinders, and which were used for makingthe impression of their engravings, in the same manneras printers use cylinders to ink type. These seals,in the opinion of antiquarians, are the most ancientoriental memorials of stone engraving.XXXVII.EPIDOTE.ALUMINOUS silicate in rhomboidal prismatic crystals,transparent and striped of an olive green, more or less;dark ;it takes its name from the Greek word eVtStSco/xi,which signifies to add to, because traces are perceivedof the successive increase of its volume by depositionsof new strata on the outside.